Recovering copper from compounds containing the same.



parra4 pra'ras rarnn'r OFFICE..

UTLEY WEDGE, OEARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.'ASSIGNOR T0 THE FURNACE PATENT vCOMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYL- VANIA.

ASpecification of Letters Pat-ent,

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

Application filed February 7, 1910.' Serial No. 542,630.

To u?! I11a/"loin it nul-y concern:

Be it ltnown that l, l'rLnr VEDGE, a citizen of the United States,residing in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements inRecovering Copper from Compounds lontaining the Same, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide acinnmereially practicablemethod of re covering copper from oxids, carbonates or silicates ofcopper, or ores or concentrates containingv the same, whose values have,in many cases, not been utilized because of difliculties in theirtreatment by ordinary smelting or blast furnace methods. In some casesthese ores have been of such a character as to malte concentration orseparation ofvalues by gravity methods impossible` and in other cases byreason of the physical or chemical character of the ore or the gangnecontents it has not been comniercially practicable to secure the valuesby fusion in blast furnace or other smelting furnaces. l have found thatif such oXids, carbonates, or silicates are subjected t-o the action ofsulfnrous gases, such forfinstance as sulfur dioxid, sulfur trioXid, orsulfuric `acid vapor, the copper will be reduced to fore patente-:l byme, and in the accompany-l ing drawing l have shown such a furnace invertical sect-ion.

vBy preference a furnace of the inutile type is used. said furnaceharing a series of superposcd hearths l and having, between each hearthand the arch of the chamber below it. a heating chamber Q to which theheating vgases are Ysupplied from a fireplace 3 at one side ofthefurinlcesaid heating gases. after traversing the chambers Qes copingthrough dues-4 to a stack or other draft inducing means.

The furnace has a central shaft 5 carrying arms G which are intended tobe provided with feeding and stirring blades or 'abbles in the usualmanner, whereby the material in powdered or .granular formdeposited uponeach hearth will be, constantly stirred or agitated and will be fedoverthe hearth from the inner to the outer portion of the same, or inthe reverse direction, the mate- .which will permit of heating andagitating the material so'as to expose all portions of ne cass to theatmosphere of sulfurous gas maintained in the furnace.

The sulfur-ous gas desired from any available source may' be introducedinto the. furnace at the lower hearth, as for instance at 9,' and maythen pass upwardly through the furnace so as to actI upon the materialon the successive hearths, finally escaping as at l0, or the gas may beintroduced at the top hearth and caused to How downwardly through thefurnace, or it. may be introi duced at an intermediate point and causedto flow upwardly to the outlet, especially *in cases where it may beadvisable to subject the ore to subsequent treatment which can. in suchcase, be effected upon the heart-h -or hearths below the gas inlet, orthe gas introduced at the upper portion of the furnace may be taken offat any intermediate point.

The sulfurous gas will be effective for the desired purpose if itcontains a percentage of sulfur dioxid as low as three per cent. byvolume, but its action is developed to a much better effectI if 'thepercentage of sulfur dioxid is increased to say about fourteen'tosixteen per cent.

ll'here sulfur dioxid is used the presence of some oxygen is necessaryto permit of the formation of copper sulfate in the furnace andtherefore in such case the sulfurous gas will in practice be dilutedwith atmospheric air in'quantity suliicient to supply the neoessaryoxygen.

The material under treatment shouldbe maintained at a temperature offrom 800 to 1100O F., and whatever construction of furnace may beemployed it should be designed with the view of maintaining the hearthor hearths at a temperature which will effect the desired heating of thematerial upon the hearth. Care should be taken to prevent sulfate afterthe saine has been formed, or

on the other hand, to prevent the tempera.- ture of the material fromfalling below that at which the reaction Will take place.

In the operation of the furnace the firing of the same Will be effectedin such manner as to produce thetemperature of the material which isbest calculated to effect the desired reaction With the particularmaterial which is being acted upon. Where the temperature. of thesulfurous gas employed is suiciently. high, any other heating of thefurnace -may be dispensed with, but Where .such additional heating isrequired coal, oil,

or lotherfuel may be employed, the furnace, in the latter ca-se, beingone of the -muffle type, as shown, so that the products of combustionwill not unnecessarily dilute the sulfurous gas employed'. An effective`method of carrying out my invention is to employ' .the furnace 1n whichthe operation is effected in connection with an ordinary rdastingfurnace in which sulfurous gas is developed, such gas being conveyeddirectly from said roasting furnace to the furnace in which the materialis being subjected to my improved treatment, or .a furnace constructedto carry out Iny invention may be employed in connection with anordinary blast furnace or converter, either with orA the latter withlsulfur dioxid the addition of oxygen may not be necessary.

I claim:

`The mode herein described of recovering copper from oxids, carbonates,silicates or like compounds, said mode consisting in subjecting thematerial-to an atmosphere containing sulfurous gas and at the same timeheating the compound, Without direct access of the heating gasesthereto, to such temperature that the reaction will form copper sulfate,and then recovering the copper from such sulfate.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

' UTLEY WEDGE.

Witnesses.

KATE A. BEADLE, HAMILTON D. TURNER.

